Contemporary anarchism within the

history of anarchism According to different scholars, the history of anarchism either goes back to ancient and prehistoric Ideology, ideologies and Social structure, social structures, or begins in the 19th century as a formal movement. As scholars and anarchist p ...

is the period of the

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

movement continuing from the end of World War II and into the present. Since the last third of the 20th century, anarchists have been involved in

anti-globalisation The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

squatter Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not Land ownership and tenure, own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estima ...

and

student protest Campus protest or student protest is a form of student activism that takes the form of protest at university campuses. Such protests encompass a wide range of activities that indicate student dissatisfaction with a given political or academi ...

movements. Anarchists have participated in armed revolutions such as in those that created the

Makhnovshchina The Makhnovshchina (, ) was a Political movement#Mass movements, mass movement to establish anarchist communism in southern Ukraine, southern and eastern Ukraine during the Ukrainian War of Independence of 1917–1921. Named after Nestor Makhno, ...

and Revolutionary Catalonia, and anarchist political organizations such as the International Workers' Association and the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

have existed since the 20th century. Within contemporary anarchism, the

anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism with an alternati ...

of classical anarchism has remained prominent. Anarchist principles undergird contemporary radical social movements of the left. Interest in the anarchist movement developed alongside momentum in the anti-globalisation movement, whose leading activist networks were anarchist in orientation. As the movement shaped 21st century radicalism, wider embrace of anarchist principles signaled a revival of interest. Various anarchist groups, tendencies and schools of thought exist today, making it difficult to describe the contemporary anarchist movement. While theorists and activists have established "relatively stable constellations of anarchist principles", there is no consensus on which principles are core and commentators describe multiple "anarchisms" (rather than a singular "anarchism") in which common principles are shared between schools of anarchism while each group prioritizes those principles differently. Gender equality can be a common principle, although it ranks as a higher priority to anarcha-feminists than

anarcho-communists Anarchist communism is a Far-left politics, far-left political ideology and Anarchist schools of thought, anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private property, private real property but retention ...

. New currents which emerged within contemporary anarchism include post-anarchism and

post-left anarchism Contemporary anarchism within the history of anarchism is the period of the anarchist movement continuing from the end of World War II and into the present. Since the last third of the 20th century, anarchists have been involved in anti-globalis ...

. '' New anarchism'' is a term that has been notably used by several authors to describe the most recent reinvention of the anarchist thought and practice. What distinguishes the new anarchism of today from the new anarchism of the 1960s and 1970s, or from the work of Anglo-American based authors such as

Murray Bookchin Murray Bookchin (; January 14, 1921 – July 30, 2006) was an American social theorist, author, orator, historian, and political philosopher. Influenced by G. W. F. Hegel, Karl Marx, and Peter Kropotkin, he was a pioneer in the environmental ...

, Alex Comfort,

Paul Goodman Paul Goodman (September 9, 1911 – August 2, 1972) was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the ...

Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read wa ...

and

Colin Ward Colin Ward (14 August 1924 – 11 February 2010)

, is its emphasis on the global perspective. Essays on new anarchism. Republished as PDF a
Punks in Science
. include

David Graeber David Rolfe Graeber (; February 12, 1961 – September 2, 2020) was an American and British anthropologist, Left-wing politics, left-wing and anarchism, anarchist social and political activist. His influential work in Social anthropology, social ...

's "New Anarchists" and Andrej Grubačić's "Towards Another Anarchism"; other authors have criticized the term for being too vague. Anarchists are generally committed against coercive authority in all forms, namely "all centralized and hierarchical forms of government (e.g., monarchy, representative democracy, state socialism, etc.), economic class systems (e.g., capitalism, Bolshevism, feudalism, slavery, etc.), autocratic religions (e.g., fundamentalist Islam, Roman Catholicism, etc.), patriarchy, heterosexism,

white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

, and imperialism." Anarchist schools disagree on the methods by which these forms should be opposed. The principle of equal liberty is closer to anarchist political ethics in that it transcends both the liberal and socialist traditions. This entails that liberty and equality cannot be implemented within the state, resulting in the questioning of all forms of domination and hierarchy. Contemporary news coverage which emphasizes

black bloc A black bloc (sometimes black block) is a tactic used by protesters who wear black clothing, ski masks, scarves, sunglasses, motorcycle helmets with padding or other face-concealing and face-protecting items.

demonstrations has reinforced anarchism's historical association with chaos and violence; however, its publicity has also led more scholars to engage with the anarchist movement, although contemporary anarchism favours actions over academic theory.

History

Anarchism was influential in the

counterculture of the 1960s The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon and political movement that developed in the Western world during the mid-20th century. It began in the early 1960s, and continued through the early 1970s. It is ofte ...

and anarchists actively participated in the

protests of 1968 The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of left-wing politics, Anti-war movement, anti-war sentiment, Civil and political rights, civil rights urgency, youth C ...

involving students and workers revolts. In 1968, the International of Anarchist Federations was founded during an international anarchist conference held in

Carrara Carrara ( ; ; , ) is a town and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey Carrara marble, marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, ...

by the three existing European federations, namely the French Anarchist Federation, the Iberian Anarchist Federation and the Italian Anarchist Federation as well as the Bulgarian Anarchist Federation in French exile. In the United Kingdom during the 1970s, this was associated with the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

movement as exemplified by bands such as

Crass Crass was an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977 who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestyle, and a resistance movement. Crass popularized the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, ...

(pioneers of the

anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is an ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, ha ...

subgenre). The housing and employment crisis in most of Western Europe led to the formation of communes,

intentional communities An intentional community is a voluntary residential community designed to foster a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork. Such communities typically promote shared values or beliefs, or pursue a common vision, which may be politica ...

and

movements like that of Barcelona. In Denmark,

s occupied a disused military base and declared the Freetown Christiania, an autonomous haven in central Copenhagen. The relationship between anarchism and punk as well as squatting has carried on into the 21st century. In ''Infinitely Demanding'',

Simon Critchley Simon Critchley (born 27 February 1960) is an English philosopher and the Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York City, U.S.A. Biography Critchley was born on 27 February 1960, in Letchworth, Engl ...

wrote: "There is no doubt that 60s anarchism was libertarian and linked to the sexual revolution, liberation of the erotic instincts and what

Herbert Marcuse Herbert Marcuse ( ; ; July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979) was a German–American philosopher, social critic, and Political philosophy, political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Born in Berlin, Marcuse studied at ...

called 'nonrepressive sublimation'. Yet, contemporary anarchism can be seen as a powerful critique of the pseudo-libertarianism of contemporary

neo-liberalism Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that advocates for free-market capitalism, which became dominant in policy-making from the late 20th century onward. The term has multiple, competing definitions, and is most often used pej ...

, where the sexual revolution has turned the culture industry into the sex industry – ask yourself, is there today anything less transgressive and more normalizing than pornography? One might say that contemporary anarchism is about responsibility, whether sexual, ecological or socio-economic; it flows from an experience of conscience about the manifold ways in which the West ravages the rest; it is an ethical outrage at the yawning inequality, impoverishment and disenfranchisment that is so palpable locally and globally." Since the revival of anarchism in the mid-20th century, a number of new movements and schools of thought emerged, well documented in Robert Graham's '' Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas, Volume Two: The Emergence of the New Anarchism (1939–1977)''. Although feminist tendencies have always been a part of the anarchist movement in the form of anarcha-feminism, they returned with vigour during the second wave of feminism in the 1960s. The American civil rights movement and the movement in

opposition to the Vietnam War Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War began in 1965 with demonstrations against the escalating role of the United States in the Vietnam War, United States in the war. Over the next several years, these demonstrations grew ...

also contributed to the revival of North American anarchism. European anarchism of the late 20th century drew much of its strength from the

labour movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

and both have incorporated

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

activism. Anarchist anthropologist

and anarchist historian Andrej Grubačić have posited a rupture between generations of anarchism, with those "who often still have not shaken the sectarian habits" of the 19th century contrasted with the younger activists who are "much more informed, among other elements, by indigenous,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

ecological Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

and cultural-critical ideas" and who by the turn of the 21st century formed "by far the majority" of anarchists. Facciamo breccia 2008 by Stefano Bolognini18

Facciamo breccia 2008 by Stefano Bolognini18

Around the turn of the 21st century, anarchism grew in popularity and influence as part of the

anti-war An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conf ...

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism ...

and

movements. Anarchists became known for their involvement in protests against the meetings of the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

(WTO), the

Group of Eight The Group of Eight (G8) was an intergovernmental political forum from 1997 to 2014, formed by incorporating Russia into the G7. The G8 became the G7 again after Russia was expelled in 2014 after the Russian annexation of Crimea. The forum ...

and the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

. Some anarchist factions at these protests engaged in rioting, property destruction and violent confrontations with police. These actions were precipitated by ''ad hoc'', leaderless and anonymous cadres known as

s, although other peaceful organisational tactics pioneered in this time include affinity groups, security culture and the use of decentralised technologies such as the Internet. A significant event of this period was the 1999 Seattle WTO protests. Many commentators have stated that the

Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a left-wing populist movement against economic inequality, capitalism, corporate greed, big finance, and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial ...

movement has roots in anarchist philosophy. International anarchist federations in existence include the International of Anarchist Federations and the International Workers' Association. The largest organised anarchist movement today is in Spain in the form of the CGT and the CNT, with the CGT membership being estimated at around 100,000 for 2003. Other active

anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade unions as both ...

movements include the CNT–AIT in France, the Union Sindicale Italiana in Italy, the

Central Organisation of the Workers of Sweden The Central Organisation of Swedish Workers (; SAC) is a Sweden, Swedish syndicalist National trade union center, trade union federation. The SAC organises people from all occupations and industries in one single federation, including the Unempl ...

and the

Swedish Anarcho-syndicalist Youth Federation The Swedish Anarcho-Syndicalist Youth Federation, (, SUF) is a youth-based group in Sweden that supports independent working class struggle. The federation was founded in 1993, in part rooted in the militant autonomism, autonomous youth movemen ...

in Sweden, the Workers Solidarity Alliance in the United States and the

Solidarity Federation The Solidarity Federation (SF; SolFed) is a Great Britain, British anarcho-syndicalist political organisation. It advocates for the abolition of capitalism and the state (polity), state through industrial action, which it agitates for in dual u ...

in the United Kingdom. The revolutionary industrial unionist

claiming 10,000 paying members and the International Workers' Association, an anarcho-syndicalist successor to the First International, also remain active. The International of Anarchist Federations was founded in 1968 during an international anarchist conference in Carrara by the three existing European anarchist federations of France, Italy and Spain as well as the Bulgarian Anarchist Federation in French exile. These organizations were also inspired on synthesis anarchist principles.The Anarchist FAQ Collective; McKay, Iain, ed. (2008)
"J.3.2 What are 'synthesis' federations?"
''An Anarchist FAQ''. I. Oakland: AK Press. . . Retrieved 24 September 2020 – via Infoshop. Currently alongside the previously mentioned federations, the International of Anarchist Federations includes the Argentine Libertarian Federation, the Anarchist Federation of Belarus, the Czech-Slovak Anarchist Federation, the Federation of German speaking Anarchists in Germany and Switzerland and the Anarchist Federation in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Platformism Platformism is an anarchist organizational theory that aims to create a tightly coordinated anarchist federation. Its main features include a common Tactic (method), tactical line, a unified political policy and a commitment to collective responsi ...

is an important current in international anarchism. Around thirty platformist and specifist organizations are linked together in the ''Anarkismo'' project, including groups from Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America.
PDF version
At least in terms of the number of affiliated organisations, the ''Anarkismo'' network is larger than other anarchist international bodies such as the International of Anarchist Federations and the International Workers' Association. However, it is not a formal international and has no intention of competing with these other formations. Today, there are organisations inspired by Dielo Truda's ''Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft)'' in many countries, including and in Argentina, the Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group and Sydney Anarchist Communist Trajectory in Australia, in Brazil, Common Cause (Ontario) and (Quebec) in Canada, and (OCL) in Chile, and in France, in Italy, in Mexico, in Norway, in Peru, the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front in South Africa, Collective Action in the United Kingdom, Common Struggle/ in the United States and the Revolutionary Confederation of Anarcho-Syndicalists by the name of N. I. Makhno which is an international anarcho-syndicalist and platformist confederation with sections and individual members in Bulgaria, Georgia, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine. Organisations inspired by platformism were also among the founders of the now-defunct International Libertarian Solidarity network and its successor ''Anarkismo'' network which is run collaboratively by roughly thirty platformist and specifists organisations around the world. Rojava Sewing Cooperative

Anarchist ideas have been influential in the development of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, more commonly known as

Rojava Rojava may refer to: * Syrian Kurdistan, also known as Rojava, the geographical region where Kurds historically settled within present-day Syria * Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria The Democratic Autonomous Administ ...

, a ''de facto''

autonomous region An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, zone, entity, unit, region, subdivision, province, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or territory, internal territory of a sovereign state that has ...

in northern Syria.

Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1948 or 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish; Kurdish for "uncle"), is a founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from 1979 to 1998. He ...

, a founding member of the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

who is currently imprisoned in Turkey, is an iconic and popular figure in Rojava and whose ideas shaped the region's society and politics. While in prison, Öcalan corresponded with and was influenced by

, a social anarchist theorist and philosopher who developed communalism and

libertarian municipalism Libertarian municipalism is a political theory that developed out of the writings of American social theorist and philosopher Murray Bookchin. It advocates for establishing direct democratic systems within municipalities, such as towns and cit ...

. Modelled after Bookchin's ideas, Öcalan developed the theory of

democratic confederalism Democratic confederalism (), also known as Kurdish communalism, Öcalanism, or Apoism, is a political concept theorized by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan about a system of democratic self-organization with the features o ...

. In March 2005, Öcalan issued his "Declaration of Democratic Confederalism in Kurdistan", calling upon citizens "to stop attacking the government and instead create municipal assemblies, which he called 'democracy without the state.

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

stated that

anarcho-syndicalism Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchism, anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade uni ...

, a classical anarchist school of thought that remains popular and relevant to contemporary anarchism, is "highly relevant to advanced industrial societies". Anarchism continues to generate many philosophies and movements, at times eclectic, drawing upon various sources and syncretic, combining disparate concepts to create new philosophical approaches.

Currents

New anarchism

Self-avowed anarchist scholars such as

and Andrej Grubačić have written on trends within contemporary anarchism both individually and in collaboration. Writing together, their emphasis is upon a "global revolutionary movement" finding roots in anarchism as opposed to Marxism, and a new generation "much more interested in developing new forms of practice than arguing about the finer points of ideology." Using the phrase "the new anarchists", Graeber elaborates upon practice with regard to globalization, "a 'new language' of civil disobedience", direct democracy, and prefigurative politics. Using the phrase ''another anarchism'', Grubačić situates contemporary anarchism in terms of its historical roots, and emphasizes its "anti-sectarian" nature, rejection of vanguardism, internationalism, decentralization, and direct democracy. Using the phrase ''new anarchism'', political scientist Leonard Williams seeks out an "anarchist metaphysic" of contemporary anarchism and emphasizes its anti-authoritarianism, pluralism, and its "theory of practice." While stipulating a use of the phrase ''new anarchism'' that does "not specifically refer to David Graeber's use of the term here in his ''

New Left Review The ''New Left Review'' is a British bimonthly journal, established in 1960, which analyses international politics, the global economy, social theory, and cultural topics from a leftist perspective. History Background As part of the emergin ...

'' article 'The New Anarchists'", Teoman Gee decries the associations of the phrase with anarchist practices that are anti-historical, polemical, or associated with superficial lifestyle anarchism.

Post-anarchism

Post-anarchism is a revision of classical anarchism sometimes through the influence of

post-structuralists Post-structuralism is a philosophical movement that questions the objectivity or stability of the various interpretive structures that are posited by structuralism and considers them to be constituted by broader systems of Power (social and poli ...

such as

Jean Baudrillard Jean Baudrillard (, ; ; – 6 March 2007) was a French sociology, sociologist and philosopher with an interest in cultural studies. He is best known for his analyses of media, contemporary culture, and technological communication, as well as hi ...

Gilles Deleuze Gilles Louis René Deleuze (18 January 1925 – 4 November 1995) was a French philosopher who, from the early 1950s until his death in 1995, wrote on philosophy, literature, film, and fine art. His most popular works were the two volumes o ...

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French History of ideas, historian of ideas and Philosophy, philosopher who was also an author, Literary criticism, literary critic, Activism, political activist, and teacher. Fo ...

, and

Jacques Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, ; ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Sigmund Freud, Freud", Lacan gave The Seminars of Jacques Lacan, year ...

. Post-anarchism is a contested term, with its prefix "post-" referring to post-structuralism and/or

postmodernism Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...

, which themselves are contested terms. Many post-anarchist theorists (e.g., Jason Adams, Todd May, and Saul Newman) invoke post-structuralist writings. The postmodern aspect of post-anarchism involves rejection of universal values and grand theories in favor of plurality and hybridity. Philosopher Benjamin Franks identified three types of post-anarchism: (1) Lyotardian ''post''anarchism, which proposes replacing classical anarchist (revolutionary) tactics with those of post-structuralists; (2) redemptive ''post''anarchism, to incorporate post-structural theory into existing anarchist practices; and (3) postmodern anarchism, which applies anarchist approaches to globalized oppressions of the late 21st century. Critics of post-anarchism argue that it ignores principles of class warfare and

economic exploitation The exploitation of natural resources describes using natural resources, often non-renewable or limited, for economic growth or development. Environmental degradation, human insecurity, and social conflict frequently accompany natural resource ex ...

, not producing political action. Duane Rousselle and Saul Newman have advanced a psychoanalytic post-anarchism inspired by the writings of Jacques Lacan. Duane Rousselle's work brings together thinking from the Lacanianism of

and

Slavoj Žižek Slavoj Žižek ( ; ; born 21 March 1949) is a Slovenian Marxist philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, Global Distin ...

to outline a distinctive approach that takes seriously the political challenges of enjoyment or jouissance.

Post-left anarchism

Post-left anarchist thought critiques anarchism's relationship to traditional

left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

, such as its emphasis on

class struggle In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...

social revolution Social revolutions are sudden changes in the structure and nature of society. These revolutions are usually recognized as having transformed society, economy, culture, philosophy, and technology along with but more than just the political system ...

labor unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

, the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

, and

identity politics Identity politics is politics based on a particular identity, such as ethnicity, Race (human categorization), race, nationality, religion, Religious denomination, denomination, gender, sexual orientation, Socioeconomic status, social background ...

. Influenced by

anti-authoritarian Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism. Anti-authoritarians usually believe in full equality before the law and strong civil liberties. Sometimes the term is used interchangeably with anarchism, an ideology which entails opposing a ...

postmodern philosophy Postmodern philosophy is a philosophy, philosophical movement that arose in the second half of the 20th century as a critical response to assumptions allegedly present in Modernism#Origins, modernist philosophical ideas regarding culture, identit ...

, post-leftists reject Enlightenment

rationalism In philosophy, rationalism is the Epistemology, epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge", often in contrast to ot ...

and

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

and deconstruct topics such as gender. While a few advocate for armed

insurrection Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

, most advocate for creating spaces and

affinity group An affinity group is a group formed around a shared interest or common goal, to which individuals formally or informally belong. Affinity groups are generally precluded from being under the aegis of any governmental agency, and their purposes ...

s to act freely within current society rather than fighting for a utopian ideal. In the United States, CrimethInc., '' Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed'', and '' Green Anarchy'' are associated with post-leftism, as are many primitivists. CrimethInc, which is influenced by situationism,

, and green anarchy, argues for a DIY folk approach to everyday life, including refusal of work, escaping

gender role A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gendered ...

s, and

straight edge Straight edge (sometimes abbreviated as sXe or signified by XXX or simply X) is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other recreational drugs in reaction to the punk subculture's excesses. Some ...

lifestyle.

Postcolonial anarchism

Postcolonial anarchism critiques mainstream anarchism for minimizing race and the role of anticolonial liberation struggle. It connects anarchism and other anti-authoritarian movements, such as that of indigneous and landless peoples. The theoretical framework emerged from North American anarchists of color in the 1990s. In the work of Roger White, it is associated with opposing universal generalizations about the role of nationalism, class, and feminism in anarchism.

Writing

Prominent anarchist presses include

AK Press AK Press is a workers' self-management, worker-managed, independent publisher and book distributor that specializes in publishing books about anarchism and the Far-left politics, radical left. Operated out of Chico, California, United States, ...

and Freedom Press. AK Press, founded in 1990, is a collective based in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

that publishes new and out-of-print works. Freedom Press, founded in 1886, is based in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

and operates a bookshop and online news in addition to publishing. Contemporary anarchist periodicals include '' Fifth Estate'', ''Perspectives on Anarchist Theory'', and ''Green Anarchy''. The Institute for Anarchist Studies offers grants for writing and translating works related to anarchism.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* Amster, Randall; ''et al.'', eds. (2009)
''Contemporary Anarchist Studies''
London: Routledge. . Retrieved 24 September 2020 – via Google Books. * Graham, Robert, ed. (2012)
''Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas, Volume Three: The New Anarchism (1974–2012)''
Montreal: Black Rose Books. . Retrieved 24 September 2020 – via Robert Graham's Anarchism Weblog. {{DEFAULTSORT:Contemporary Anarchism History of anarchism